From AI to interceptors, Ukraine is trying to drone-proof its skies

At the start of the war it relied on old Soviet-era weapons. The West then helped bolster its defences – with expensive, more sophisticated systems including Patriot air defence missiles.But Ukraine has also been developing its own home-grown solutions – from mobile fire teams operating heavy machine guns on trucks to cheap, mass-produced interceptors.Embracing innovation and technology is giving Ukraine an advantage. At the heart of Ukraine's air defences is the software that tracks every glide bomb, missile and drone launched by Russia. Sky Map uses radars, thousands of sensors and video feeds and artificial intelligence to detect threats and guide its air defences. To start with, Ukraine relied on a network of mobile phones fitted on to telegraph poles to listen out for the sound of approaching drones. Now the system uses more sophisticated sensors. The US is using Sky Map to protects one of its bases in the Middle East.And there's one weapon, more than any other, that's helping take down Russian drones: cheap interceptor drones.They're shaped like a large bullet and propelled by four rotors at the base. Ukraine is now producing more than 1,000 of these kinds of drones a day. In March this year they destroyed more than 30,000 Russian drones, according to Ukraine's air force.